Lovely Hart
by MarissaRose
Summary: AU RM - At first it's fun writing for the lovelorn in the school newspaper, and even getting close to the newpapers editor is great. But Marissa finds herself getting in over her head when she realizes one of the letters is from her best friend, about her
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Quite random, and I'm in a random mood, so random story. :P I'm having a good day today, I got to spend a lot of time by myself last night, think, cry, I showed every emotion I had in me because I was babysitting and the three kids were asleep. So I guess I'm feeling better, and random.**

**Disclaimer – I own nothing, I am just merely using the characters for my own entertainment.**

**Lovely Hart**

**- - - - - - - - - - - **

Wow, almost a year, and I was still the best-kept secret at _Harbor High. _That is, my identity was – or actually, the identity of _Lovely Hart, _who, in reality –  
But I'm getting ahead of myself, which is why this sounds so confusing.  
The whole thing started one bright fall afternoon in the office of the school paper, _Harbor Heights_. The first staff meeting of the year had just broken up and I was gathering my books together to leave. Along with the afternoon sun, the sounds of football practice filtered through the windows, meaning that my best friend Ryan Atwood, a second- or third-string quarterback or cornerback (I'm never sure which), was not going to be able to drive me home.

"Marissa, wait a minute. I have to ask you something important." Chip Hathaway, the editor of the _Heights_, walked toward me, his face solemn. We were now alone in the room, and for one wild moment, I thought he might be preparing to ask me something… personal. But I dismissed the idea almost before it took shape in my mind. Chip, a senior, who didn't 'bother with girls' – according to then-current rumors – was certainly not about to be bowled over by Marissa Cooper, junior reporter.

"Listen," he began, pulling over a chair, "I had an idea, and I think you'd be just the person to pull it off."

"Uh-oh," I said warily. "That sounds like you've just plotted the perfect bank robbery."

"Not quite," he grinned. He turned the chair around backward and sat astride it, his arms leaning against the back.  
"I've been fooling around with the idea of an advice to the lovelorn column, and I think you'd do a great job with it."

"Advice? To the lovelorn? _Me?"_ Since John never paid much attention to girls socially, I had to assume that he had no way of knowing that I was not exactly Harbor High's resident sex goddess.

"No listen," he explained, "I know you're a junior and it's not like I expect you have the experience to deal with the _really _heavy stuff –"

"Oh, thanks a lot," I said. And stop reading my mind, I added silently. My experience – or lack there of – is none of your business.

"It's just that I think you'd have the right touch for this sort of thing. Those sample columns you wrote when you tried out for the paper showed real potential. What I'd want is light, lively stuff, you know, bringing out the 'funny side of human foibles.' Of course, you could throw in a couple of serious ones too, if you think you can handle them."

If I thought I could handle them! Who spent hours on the phone, listening to the problems Summer and Holly brought me to solve? Who had the milk of human kindness flowing through her veins where most people kept their corpuscles? Whose shoulder was constantly damp from being cried on?  
"Well of course I can handle it!" I said dignantly.

"Great!" Chip cried, clapping me on my temporarily dry shoulder. "I knew you could. Now listen, the first thing is, this has to be kept absolutely secret."

"What does?" I asked confused. "The column?"

"No, no, the fact that you're Lovely Hart."

"I'm _who?"_

"Lovely Hart. That's the name we're going to use for the column. 'Dear Lovely Hart.' Isn't that a great name?"

"Chip," I said gently, "that's not exactly one of your top ten names."

"Are you kidding? It's a terrific name."

"Chip, it's corny."

"Well naturally. It's _supposed _to be corny. Marissa, where's your sense of humor? The thing is mostly in fun anyway."

"Oh well," I said, "if it's _supposed _to be corny, it's a perfectly fine name."

"I knew you'd think so," he beamed.

"What are we going to do with the letters?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, the first issue? No one will know about the column –"

"Ah, that's what you think." He whipped a wadded piece of loose-leaf paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it and spread it out before me on the desk.  
"Posters," he announced. "All over the school."

It read "Read 'Lovely Hart' in the _Harbor Heights!_ Write to Lovely Hart c/o the _Harbor _office. Lovely Hart answers your questions, solves your problems, with snappy suggestions for happy solutions!! No names please – Lovely Hart wants just the facts. Lovely listens – so listen to Lovely!"

"Whoa," I said. "Kind of takes your breath away doesn't it? You don't think it comes on too strong?"

"It pays to advertise," Chip declared. "And if this doesn't bring in the letters – we'll make them up ourselves."

"What? But that's – "

"Only for the first issue," he hastened to add. "After that we'll have more letters then we know what to do with."

"Well…"

"But look," he went on gravely, "this whole thing has got to be kept quite. You can't tell anyone. And that's for your own protection."

"Good grief Chip, you make it sound as if I'm going to be one step ahead of a lynch mob."

"Well, see, you just don't know. This business of giving advice could get pretty sticky."

I shrugged. I couldn't really understand Chip's super cautious attitude about the whole thing. At the moment, the only problem seemed to be how to keep my alter ego under wraps.

"Not even my family?" I asked dubiously.

"Especially not your family!" he groaned. "Marissa, have you forgotten who your father is?"

Ridiculous as that sounds, I had. And I immediately realized the Chip was right – of all the people who mustn't know that I was Lovely Hart, my father was right up there at the head of the list. The head guidance counselor at Harbor High would probley not look too kindly upon his teenage daughter dispending solace without a license.

"And besides," Chip was saying, "you lose all the – the – mystery, if people know Lovely Hart is just Marissa Cooper."

"Oh yeah," I agreed, with a straight face. Doesn't have the same ring to it at all."

"You know what I mean," he retorted. "So you make sure no one – even on the staff – sees you pick up those letters. Better yet, I'll hold them for you as they come in. That way –"

Hey! Marissa! You're working late… Ryan said just to leave, you were already gone… but not me Marissa! I made him wait to come find you!" Seth, my best friend's foster brother rambled.

Chip leaped from his seat, practically knocking the chair over.

"Seth!" I gasped. Chip's leap and my gasp would have planted seeds of suspicion in all but the most innocent of minds. But Seth noticed nothing. I don't mean to malign Seth's mind, because he's a very dear person, and I've loved him like a brother ever since Ryan and me became close friends. But the fact remains that Seth being Seth, noticed nothing.

"Don't panic," I muttered to Chip. Seth didn't even notice that. His long legs brought him from the door to our desks in three strides.

"I told Ryan you'd still be here, being the workaholic you are, need a ride home?" he continued his rambling… typical Seth.

"Well I am, and I do," I replied cheerfully, once in my life glad Ryan didn't come to find me. I stood up and stretched, a little exaggeratedly, as if exhausted by a long afternoon of slaving over a hot typewriter… even if we didn't use those anymore… well we haven't used those since I was in school, but still.

Chip glanced out the window. The sun was low, and it would be dark in half an hour. "I didn't realize how late it was Sorry to keep you so long, Marissa."

"That's fine. Now I have a ride. So long, Chip."

"See you," he said. "Meeting Thursday."

"Need a ride?" Seth offered.

"No, that's okay." Chip waved us out of the room. "I have a car."

Seth and I walked to Ryan's car. Seth jumped in the back seat, something he always did when I was around, giving me the front seat.

"I told you Ryan! She was still here, her and her workaholic self!" Seth laughed.

"Shut up, Seth!" I yelled playfully, "What's up Ry?"

Ryan laughed in his deep voice that made small little butterflies form in the pit of my stomach, "Nothing much Riss. Where to? Home? Or your house? "

I loved the way he referred to his house as 'home' to me. "I want to go home, but I have to go to my house this time guys. Mom expecting me home."

"Awww Marissa! I wanted to beat you in another game of ninja's!"

"Ha-ha, nice one Seth" Ryan said sarcastically, sticking up for me. "She's the one who beats you every time."

"Meanness," Seth gave up and sat back down in the seat.

Ryan started to drive, keeping up a fairly constant chatter about Harbor's football prospects for this season, with Seth. Well Seth did most the talking, asking Ryan about the team. Seth never had been anywhere near the league of sports, so he had to live purely through what he could pry out of Ryan.

I barley listened. Besides being preoccupied with Lovely Hart, I really couldn't work up much interest in football. Oh I cared enough to want Harbor to win, on account of Ryan – I just didn't care to understand all the reasons why it would or wouldn't.

And now at the beginning of football season, Seth's head was filled with questions to ask Ryan, and Ryan's head was filled with nothing but all those questions and the answers, even thought at any other times of the years he was a perfectly normal individual who was interesting to talk to, he _was_ my best friend. I couldn't blame him anyway, since at the moment my head was so full of my new project I couldn't think of anything else to talk about either. And since I was forbidden, on pain of who knows what, to talk about that, I simply didn't talk at all.

Which was just as well, anyway, since it would have been hard to work a word in edgewise.

"Thanks for the ride, Ry," I said as we pulled into the drive of my own house, not the house I wanted to be at. "How about you two coming in for awhile?"

"No thanks, it's really late, we'd better get right home."

"Okay; see you." I said as I leaned over to kiss his cheek as our sign of special friendship. Most people who saw us, thought we were a couple, and the rumors going around Harbor High was that, in fact Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood were an item. Though that wasn't the case. Ryan and I were just best friends, and despite the crush I had on him since he had moved here to Newport, we were just friends. Friends with benefits, most people whispered behind our backs whenever they asked us to our face if we were an item, but no benefits, really. Unless a kiss on the cheek was a benefit… anyway, he drove off, and I let myself in the front door.

**A/N - I'm already working on chpater two now, so I should have this updated once or twice again before school starts on monday. Hope everyone had a Happy New Year!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – Well look here now; I've actually gotten around to posting for this again. I lied okay? It's been forever ago since New Years, and it's now March break. *Yay* So anyways, I was reading this over, and I seen a lot of mistakes in it, and some being totally noticeable. Sorry for that, but it was one of my first stories, and I have improved a lot, well I like to think I have, since I posted for this last. So, for all you people out there who haven't given up on this story, here's your chapter two.**

**Lovely Hart: Chapter Two.**

When I walked in the front door of my house, my cell phone suddenly went off, and made a little jingle telling me I had a text message from Ryan. Yes, I made Ryan's call have a special ring tone; I wasn't insane, I swear. I opened my flip up phone, and looked at the small text he had left me.

_See You Tomoro._

I smiled, and kicked my boots off, and started to walk up the stairs, for the moment forgetting of my new task I should be thinking about. The entire better if I didn't think of it anyway, because as my whole family and some close friends knew, I just couldn't lie. I passed my sister, Rose, on the way to my bed room, still with my head down looking at the small keys on my cell phone to text Ryan back. I still hadn't mastered the texting skills yet, so I was rather slow. Still I managed to type in the letters, sending it to him while I closed my bedroom door.

_Kk, Love you._

Yes, it was just something that they said to each other. It was a sign in their friendship, which Seth liked to call "Corny." As corny as it was, they still said it to each other, and knew it meant nothing personal. Well, they thought it meant nothing personal, but deep down she knew it was always something personal with Ryan. It always had been.

_Thank you._

She rolled her eyes at what he texted her back. It was his trademark. She always said, "I love you", to him, and then he would come up with that. She had to smile through her annoyance though, because she had to admit, it was cute that he still went to all the trouble to make her smile. Ryan was always someone for cute.

_Ass._

She smirked as she pressed send for this one. Not normally she was so blunt, and said anything like that to people. But it was Ryan, and she could say anything to him, and he would always just come back for more. Well, not really come back for more; more like put up with his best friend's shit. And shit did she have. She was surprised that he didn't run the first time he met her; but all and all she was thankful that he put up with her shit. Simply because she would always put up with his shit, even if Ryan never did ever giver her shit. But she knew she would pout up with it.

_Ouch Cooper. I love you too. Happy?_

She smiled and shook her head. This kid could do weird things to her. Like make her sit on her bed and be grinning stupidly, like she was right now. She laughed at herself, and him. Okay, she agreed maybe Seth was correct, they were corny.

Very, bye! 3

She added the last heart for some affect like she normally did. She was leaving those kind of hearts all around the place around him. He knew if he saw one of them it was from her. He just shook his head and laughed.

Bye. Xo

I blushed to myself as I read the kiss and hug part at the end of what he texted me. I knew he meant nothing by it, but I couldn't help pretend that it did. I knew me and Ryan could never be together, because… because it just wasn't right. He had all the girls chancing after him, no chance in hell would he pick Marissa Cooper, the girl next door, his best friend since childhood.

I tried to push out the thoughts of Ryan, and focus my attention on my new task, and pulled out the wadded piece of paper Chip had given me. Chip… someone blind people could tell was handsome. He was very cute with his brown hair spiked, and his penetrating green eyes. What was she saying? Just seconds ago she was thinking about Ryan's blond spiky hair and blue eyes, why was she thinking about Chip that was also? Boy trouble, Ah hell…

She tried to clear her thoughts again, but another text came through on her cell phone. She was considering not picking it up, and letting it go to missed alerts, until she heard the special ring. She sighed and picked it up. She knew she should be thinking about her new task, but when her best friend was texting her, it was rather hard. He wasn't just any be friend either, he was a very handsome best friend.

You gonna call me tonight?

Yes, okay. They called each other every night before they went off to sleep. She swore she wasn't obsessed with him, she really wasn't. They were best friends, nothing else.

_Of course. _

She smiled and put the phone down again picking up the wadded piece of paper Chip had given her. Her new task was risky, and if anyone knew it was her, she would be… well, she didn't really want to think about it. It was hard enough to go through with this, she didn't need to be thinking about the things that could possible go wrong. Thinking like that she would just have to tell Chip that she was backing out, and there would be nothing he could do to convince her to keep the project.

She knew that's what she should do, and came to a decision that that's infact what she would do. Then she thought of Chips green eyes, and knew she would never be able to decline a offer from him, especially when she knew it meant a lot to him. The whole _Heights_ paper meant a lot to him, and she hated to be brutally honest, but it was going farther downhill than any of the press people would have liked it to admit. She sighed and lay down on her bed. Ah hell…

**A/N – Kind of random place to pick this up again, but oh well. I'm not promising anything, and this piece is still on hiatus. Please review.**


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